Map of the world
in 1154
by Idrissi
The Travels of Ibn
Battutah
An Ancient Map of
Iraq
15th Century
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Geography
Fulfilling the duties of formal prayers and Pilgramage, Muslims need to
find the direction and routes leading to al Ka'ba
from viryally any spot on the glope. Ka'ba, the
house of Abraham in Mecca is the point at which
Muslims face when they perform prayers. This is
known as "Qibla."
To
find Qibla from any part of the globe, Muslims
invented the Compass and developed the sciences
of geography and geometry.
The duty of Pilgrimage to Mecca, that each Muslim
must make at least once in his or her lifetime,
is directly responsible for the development of
the science of geography. Muslims
from as far as Malaysia and Indonesia, from Europe
and Africa found their ways to Mecca. Arab pilots
and the wealth of geographical maps and books
developed in the period from 7th century to the
15th century were the engine from which the European
discoveries of the 15th century were made.
Ibn Battutah
(1304-1368)
Ibn
Battutah (Batutah), b 24 February 1304 in
Tangier, d 1368 in Fès. Arab traveler and
merchant. From 1325 to 1353 he visited many countries
of Europe, Asia, and Africa, including the southern
regions of present-day Ukraine.
Ibn
Battutah's 14th century masterpieces provided
a detailed view of the geography of the ancient
world.
Map
by Jihani
10th Century
This
is a map of the world made by the Muslim geographer
Jihani in the 10th century of the Christian era.
The names have been translated from the Arabic.
Many Muslim civilisations have been seafaring
and relied heavily on maps.
For
that reason, Muslim societies also studied astronomy
intensely and invented the modern naval sextant.
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